As a chronic illness sufferer I really have to look after myself. Mind body and soul. If any of those things are unhappy I get a spike in my illness. So bringing joy to my life everyday is a necessity and it should be for most of us. Finding time to do something we enjoy even for a few minutes will fill you with happiness and help you de-stress. I guarantee after you have finished your personal self care ritual you will feel so much better in yourself.

Obviously for me personally beauty plays a huge part in making me happy as it’s something that really does bring me joy, each day I play with products even for just a few minutes and if I really need a boost I go for a top to toe all at once pamper and voila I feel brand new! Self care can be anything from reading a book, going on a bike ride or putting on your favourite shade of lipstick. what ever floats your boat and makes you feel happier.

Below I am going to list 4 beauty rituals I like to do either separately or combined that bring me a feel good factor. There will also be some product recommendations and tips to inspire you too. ENJOY!

A Soak In the Tub

Who after a really crap day enjoys a soak in the tub until they shrivel up like a raisin? ME! A soak in the tub is not always about cleansing it’s also about relaxing the muscles and melting away stress and tension. I could lay there for a good 60-90 minutes surrounded by lotions, potions, candles and a good book. When I feel the water temperature drop I top her up, it feels like my body is in a warm cocoon and when I get out I feel so much lighter like the bath melted away all my worries.

Of course if you are going to soak in the tub you got to make it indulgent right? it would be rude not to (wink). Here are some of my favourite bath time remedies :-

Aromatherapy De Stress Mind & Muscle Bath and Shower Oils – Made from high quality essential oils to help you de-stress, relax and aid a good nights sleep. Perfect for an evening soak before bed.

RRP £49.00 each 55ml Available HERE *affiliated

Laura Mercier Almond and Coconut Milk Honey Bath – One of my most favourite scents in the world. This can be used to create beautifully scented moisturising bubbles or directly onto the skin as a body wash. The product is full of high quality ingredients including Shea Butter, Sweet Almond and Oat Proteins plus Vanilla Extracts, Hydrolyzed Rice and Vitamin B5 to leave your skin soft, smooth and feeling pampered.

RRP £41.00 300g Available HERE *affiliated

Monu Spa Sandlewood & Lemon Bath & Body Oil* – Another muscle relaxing product that can be used in the bath or directly onto the skin for a relaxation home spa feeling. Sandalwood helps induce muscular relaxation releasing tension and stress. Other ingredients include Rosewood (skin calming) and Apricot Seed (Soothing) making this product suitable for even the most sensitive of skin types.

RRP £35.00 300ml – for 30% off your first order code MONU30 (not affiliated) available directly from Monuskin - www.monushop.co.uk

Mineral Bath Salts Verdant Alchemy* – Bath Salts are such an invigorating experience. Especially these. There are 6 to chose from depending on what your need is. From a good nights sleep, detox or even help clearing your airways. Each kind is full of minerals to relax, detox and heal your body as well as the best quality of essential oils to focus on your ritual. I always feel amazing after I have used these salts and have so far tried 3 out of the 6! * For a full review check out this instagram post

RRP £12.00 - £45 100g – 500g - Available directly from Verdant Alchemy

A Full Body Scrub

Did you know that exfoliating helps promote circulation, skin cell renewal, softens hard skin and draws out impurities and clears congestion? Our skin covers our entire body so exfoliating is not just for the face, so get scrubbing!

I love the feeling of a full body scrub and how my skin looks ad feels after. It makes the colour appear brighter, helps reduce scarring and stretchmarks and also plumps the skin reducing the appearance of cellulite. When I do a head to toe pamper (minimum once a week) I always include good scrub down. My top tip for exfoliating is to work in small circular motions and if you are shaving or waxing legs, exfoliate prior to reduce the possibility of ingrowing hairs. Ingrowing hairs happe when the hairs get stuck under a build up of skin cells.

Here are a few of my faves :-

Rabot Salt & Lemongrass Body Scrub* – Rabot are apart of Hotel Chocolat and not only farm cacao in the Caribbean for the best quality of chocolate but also to create this wonderful beauty brand. All of their scrubs come in a reusable coffee cup which are crafted from bamboo, corn fiber and wood fiber. They are 75% biodegradable. If you take your cup to a Hotel Chocolat café you will receive 35p off of your hot drink.

The scrub is made from salt, coffee, sugar, lemongrass oil and cacao seed butter to leave your skin soft, smooth and energised.

RRP £16.00 350ml - Available directly from Rabot 1975

Soaper Duper Ginger Root & Eucalptus Salt Scrub – This is one of my fave salt scrubs ever! 84% naturally derived ingredients and one of the most planet friendly brands. I have loved them along time. In this scrub you will find Kukui Oi, Lemon Fruit & Lime Butter. It smells ridiculously good, warning you will want to eat it.

RRP £12.00 300ml - Available HERE *affiliated

Jo Malone Exfoliating Shower Gel – A lime Basil & Mandarin bougie shower gel that foams up, washes and exfoliates all at the same time. Exfoliate your skin with soft Jojoba beads and bamboo stem which help to gently buff away dry skin and impurities. leaving it feeling soft and ready for moisturising. Perfect for everyday pampering.

RRP £32.00 200ml - Available at Jo Malone, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and John Lewis.

Face Masking

You can whack on a face mask absolutely anytime and any where which is why there is always time to do this. You don’t need to completely stop to enjoy this ritual. You can mask doing the ironing, while you are sleeping, while you travel, in the bath, reading a book, watching Netflix, standing on your head, sitting on the loo, you get my drift the possibilities are endless. Have you tried multi masking or even double masking. we can use multiple masks at once depending on our skin concerns. For example I like to use a hydrating mask after a exfoliating mask. Give it a try yourself, its a great way to enjoy multiple products as well as the benefits.

Here are some of my favourite masks. I have many more but these ones should suit the majority of skin types :-

Bubu Skincare Sheet Masks* – The most fun sheet masks ever, they are so pretty and fit so amazingly well you won’t feel like a dick wearing one! Whatever your skin type there is a BuBu mask for you.  The range includes 4 sheet masks and 1 lip mask #soakmewet for hydration, #t-spot to target unwanted spots, #feelingdirty to help protect the barrier form pollution, #stripitoff an exfoliating mask for glowy skin and #youpucker for lip plumping and hydration. They are made from bubu is one of  the very latest environmentally friendly glitteratti thermo sensitive hydrogel and cosmetically approved, topical Botox. Not only do these mask target your problem areas they also prime the skin for makeup too and we do love a multi functioning product!

RRP £7.00 for the sheet masks and £5.00 for the lip mask. Available Directly from Bubu & PrettyLittleThing

I’m From Honey Mask – This is exactly what it says on the tin it looks, feels and smells like honey. I have wanted to taste it but I didn’t (yet). A K Beauty mask that contains natural honey derived from bees to give an intense moisture boost. Your skin will feel so plump and moist after just 10-60mins use.

RRP £25.59 Available from Stylevanna

Fresh Vitamin Nectar Mask – This is like spreading apricot jam allover your face. Another delicious mask. Made with a vitamin fruit complex to make your skin brighter and appear more radiant. Its truly gorgeous and oh so very gentle.

RRP £52.00 100ml - Available from Fresh Beauty, SpaceNK & Cultbeauty

Pixi Glow Mud Mask* - I have been through a few tubes of this over the years, both gifted and purchased by myself. This is a multi functional mask that clears congestion as well as energising dull tired skin to leave a more radiant complexion. Formulated with Aloe Vera and minerals. It leaves the skin feeling like you just had a facial after 15 minutes of use. Magic!

RRP £18.00 45ml - Availble HERE *Affiliated

Origins Glow-Co-Nuts – A thick hydrating cream mask that smells just like coconuts (my fave scent in the world). This can be left on for 10-20 minutes and wiped off using tissue or I like to apply a thicker layer and leave on overnight. I wake up with plump hydrated skin every single time. This is a beautiful mask perfect for all year round use but of course the coconut scent makes it

RRP £26.50 100ml - Available at M&S

Caudalie Instant Detox Mask – A pore tightening mask that deeply cleanses the skin and pores of any impurities, excess oils and unwanted debris. This is just a 5-10 minute ritual that contains the fabulous ingredient pink clay as well as grape marc and coffee.

RRP £22.00 75ml - Available HERE *Affiliated

Hair Mask

If you are indulging in the “A soak in the tub” ritual and its hair wash day, because let’s face it hair wash day is tightly scheduled into our calendar and our whole week revolves around when we wash our hair right? Then now is the time to treat your tresses to some TLC while you sit back and relax. I like to apply my mask as soon as I get in the bath and then rinse off very last thing. For a very deep masking session you could wrap your hair up in a shower cap too this stops the moisture escaping and helps it to penetrate further. Another hair masking tip of mine is to leave a mask on overnight by wrapping the hair in cling film.

I don’t tend to have lots of masks in my stock pile at once so I only have three brands to show you in picture the others are also faves of mine!

Body Shop Banana Mask – Like a banana whip for your hair. Smells bloody delish and leaves the hair oh so soft!

RRP £12.00 240ml - Available at the Body Shop

Aveda Damage Remedy Intensive Reconstructive Treatment Mask – This mask strengthens the hair shaft that has been weakened by chemicals, heat styling and external aggressors. The protein rich mask repairs, strengthens and restores the hair working deeply to restore the hair back to being smooth and shiny.

RRP £29.50 150ml - Available HERE *Affiliated

Olaplex No3 -  Another restoring mask that has a built in bond builder to repair broken and damaged hair weakened by chemicals, heat styling and external aggressors. This product is intensive and used by salon professionals.

RRP £26.00 100ml - Available HERE *Affiliated

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer* - I have used this many times over the ears although this particular one has been gifted I also purchased many times myself. This is an innovative award winning treatment that is different from the rest as you apply this and allow it to work before you shampoo your hair. It is absolutely gorgeous to apply and leaves hair so soft and bouncy.

RRP £34.00 150ml - Available HERE *Affiliated

Living Proof Hair Masks* - I was recently gifted samples of these masks having never tried them before. They are gorgeous and do improve the hair instantly as masks should. There are 3 to choose from depending on your needs. Intense Moisture mask to fight frizz leaving hair smooth and silky. Perfect Hair Day a weightless formula for fine hair. Resore Mask for damaged hair. They are all 5 minute masks so you don’t need much time at all.

RRP £37.00 227g - Available HERE *Affiliated

That’s about as much as I have for you here although I have way more product recommendations so if you want to know more or have some recommendations for me, get in touch here or privately over on Instagram

PR Samples marked with * & All affiliated links clearly marked.

Kisses

Nicola XXX

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